“student development, leadership and voice harvard change model suggests the likelihood of change...
TRANSCRIPT
“Student Development, Leadership and Voice: Reframing the Conversation”
Prepared by: Anderson Williams Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives 1704 Charlotte Ave, Suite 200 Nashville, TN 37203 615-983-6858 [email protected]
What do we really want for our young people?
Prevention Outcomes
Prevention Outcomes are described in terms of what we do not want young people to do or become. They seek to prevent young people from engaging in destructive lifestyles:
- School failure
- Bullying
- Pregnancy
- Drug and alcohol use
- ?
High/Scope Educational Research Foundation www.highscope.org
Problem free is not fully prepared. - Karen Pittman, Founder and CEO, Forum for Youth Investment
Achievement Outcomes
Achievement outcomes are things we do want youth to obtain or achieve:
- Graduating from high school
- Attaining a post-secondary credential
- Getting a job
- Winning a class office or an award
- ?
High/Scope Educational Research Foundation www.highscope.org
Social and cultural achievement are not synonymous with personal well-being or healthy development.
Developmental Outcomes
Developmental outcomes are the abilities, personal attributes, sense of self, and connection to others that young people need to be healthy and succeed:
- Academic and social competence
- Confidence and character
- Connectedness, healthy relationships with community, friends and family
- Caring and compassion, empathy
High/Scope Educational Research Foundation www.highscope.org
The Teen Brain
The Teen Brain • During adolescence, the brain begins its final stages of maturation and continues to rapidly develop well into a person’s early 20s, concluding around 25.
• The prefrontal cortex, which governs the “executive functions” of reasoning, advanced thought and impulse control, is the final area of the human brain to mature.
• Adolescents commonly experience “reward-deficiency syndrome,” which means they are no longer stimulated by activities that thrilled them as younger children. Thus, they often engage in activities of greater risk and higher stimulation in efforts to achieve similar levels of excitement.
• Adolescents must rely heavily on the parts of the brain that house the emotional centers when making decisions, because the frontal regions of their brains are not fully developed.
Coalition for Juvenile Justice: Emerging Concepts Brief: “What are the Implications of Adolescent Brain Development for Juvenile Justice?”
Strategies That Work/Don’t Work for the Teen Brain
PERMISSIVE
- Few rules
- Few consequences
- Endless negotiation
- Limited or erratic leadership
- Emphasis on individuality
- All opinions are equal
From: Why Do They Act That Way: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen, by David Walsh
AUTHORITARIAN
- Rigid rules
- Strict enforcement
- No negotiation
- Autocratic leadership
- Emphasis on conformity
- Only the adult’s opinion counts
STRUCTURED
- Firm rules
- Firm enforcement
- Limited negotiation
- Stable leadership
- Balance between individuality and conformity
- Opinions respected
What do we mean when we say “engagement”?
Understanding the Continuum of Youth Involvement
A Model for Understanding the Continuum of Youth Involvement
PARTICIPATION
POWER OF YOUNG PEOPLE
POWER OF ADULTS
VOICE LEADERSHIP ENGAGEMENT
The Challenge of Moving Along the Continuum
PARTICIPATION VOICE LEADERSHIP ENGAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT COORDINATION COACHING PARTNERSHIP
YOUTH CONTINUUM
ADULT CONTINUUM
…is changing the way adults approach their work.
The Harvard Change Model suggests the likelihood of change increases
exponentially as any of these factors gets stronger.
But disconnected efforts may actually dissipate energy for change.
Change Formula
The Forum for Youth Investment www.forumfyi.org
C = D x V x P Change = Dissatisfaction x Vision x Plan
the more we focus (on narrow pieces of the “big picture”), the more we fragment (our responses), the more we fail (our children and youth).
Youth Decision-Making and
Planning Progression
K-1 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9
Youth Decision-Making and Planning
Adult D
ecision
-M
akin
g and P
lannin
g
10-12 GRADE
http://www.forumfyi.org/content/youth-organizing-educa
“Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is violence. The means used are not important; to alienate human beings from their own decision-making is to change them into objects. “
- Paulo Freire
“There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. “
- John F. Kennedy
Final Words
“Student Development, Leadership and Voice: Reframing the Conversation”
Prepared by: Anderson Williams Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives 1704 Charlotte Ave, Suite 200 Nashville, TN 37203 615-983-6858 [email protected]